What's the one thing every mom wants but can't have? More time. So imagine if you could save time while cleaning and then have more time for yourself.
Check out these cleaning tips and tricks from some of some hard working women that’ll help you revitalize your home and still have time left over to revitalize yourself!
Kathryn Bechthold
Our time-saving cleaning idea: A Cleaning Party!
Give two old rags to each person participating in the cleaning party.
Apply cleaning product of your choice to each rag. Put the rags on the floor and step on! Each foot should have a rag. Turn on really loud music that gets the whole family moving (we really like The Wiggles around here) Dance on the dirty spots!
This is so much fun, it has become a weekly ritual in our house!
Consuelo Bernardi – The B-Sides
Well, since there isn't an eighth day in the week to put off the dreaded housecleaning, the one tip I use to save my sanity when it comes to the never ending chores is (cue the trumpets): 'Clean while you cook'.
Maybe it's because when I was living at home I was stuck with the dishes and cleaning up after dinner - but I figured if the messes, dishes, pots and pans were cleaned immediately after they're used then there was less for me to do afterwards.
Instead of piling everything in the kitchen sink and having your kitchen declared a disaster zone, cleaning while you cook saves time and eases that overwhelming feeling of nausea when you look around and think "urgh now I have to clean this up?"
Erin Blaskie
Multi-task! Most people say multi-tasking is a bad thing but when it comes to housework, it becomes your secret weapon. My rule of thumb when doing housework is not to walk upstairs/downstairs or in and out of a room without taking something out of it that doesn't belong and transporting it to where it does belong. I also won't stand and do dishes for a half hour if I can also have laundry on. Using your time wisely becomes the biggest timesaver and productivity tip for getting it all done in the quickest time possible. Leslie Crowell
One thing I never "wannabe" doing is housecleaning, so the less time I spend at it the better! When it comes to household chores, I find the more organized I can be in advance, the quicker I can breeze through them. Little things like putting new garbage or recycle bags in the bottom of the container (underneath the one that's in use) makes for a quick replacement when you need to clean out the trash. When it comes to laundry, pre-sorting as you go by using separate laundry hampers - one for lights, one for darks and one for linens - makes tossing a load in the washer quick and efficient.
I also like to dedicate certain housecleaning tasks to specific days - e.g. I change the beds Sunday mornings - that way I don't have to waste time thinking about when I'm going to get that chore off my list. But remember, I don't have kids...so having control of my routine is likely easier for me than for all those hardworking moms out there!
Jen Charron - Control Freak
I clean while I'm doing other things... Dust while chatting on the phone. Give the toilet a once over while my kid takes a bath. Clean the kitchen sink while dinner cooks. Empty the dishwasher while prepping breakfast. Fold the laundry while watching TV. You get the picture. Multi-tasking all the way!
Kelli Catana – Scene & Heard
When it comes to cleaning I get the whole family involved - as they say - the more the merrier! Well, there's nothing merry about cleaning, but when everyone pitches in it saves time and energy, allowing more time for everyone to enjoy more fun activities! So delegate those chores and you'll be cleaning in half the time!
Candace Derickx – See Mummy Juggle
Before I start major fall or spring-cleaning, I de-clutter. That is a BIG job, so I break it up into small chunks. For a two-week period leading up to the big cleaning day, I pick one area in my house (i.e. my closet) and focus on it for 15 minutes and designate stuff for either Salvation Army or garbage. When I'm ready to start cleaning I'm not cleaning around stuff!
Sharon DeVellis – The Inside Scoop
I live in a house with three bathrooms and two young boys who have bad aim and could care less about dirt and germs. You can only imagine what our bathrooms would look like if I didn't tackle messes right away. To keep on top of bathroom mayhem, I keep a set of cleaning supplies in each of the washrooms. If I happen to be in a particular bathroom and see that the mirror is dirty or the sink is gross, I clean it right away, then save the big “overall” cleaning for once a week.
Eileen Fisher – YMC Social Media Manager
My timesaving tip for housecleaning is called “The 3 M's” – as in Multi-tasking (tackle the dishwasher during breakfast/dinner) Music – (play it loud & play it long) and Many Hands (as in, all hands on deck-help Mummy out!) The 3 M's help get things in our crazy-busy household done fast, furious and with a bit of fun.
Evelyn Hannon
You know all those coupons, forms to be filled and newspaper clippings that require your attention? I keep a colorful woven basket on my desk and drop everything in there so they are not on every surface in the house. Once a week I put time aside to file them, fill them out or ...get rid of them.
I listen to classical music station while I do my heavy housework. The soothing background allows me to dream, work out life's little problems, write my next blog in my head and still get my cleaning done at the same time.
I have three laundry baskets in the bottom of my bedroom closet. One for whites, another for coloreds and the last for delicates that require hand washing. That means on laundry day my loads are all sorted and ready to go.
My best timesaving rule for housekeeping: Every second week, I hire a wonderful woman who comes in and in three hours puts my house back into sparkling clean order.
Maureen Turner – We Are Family
When my mother-in-law hurt her back, she needed an easier way to clean windows than the typical paper towel method, so she decided to buy a squeegee. It not only made it easier on her back, but made the job go by faster. Now, I use the squeegee too, but I use it to distract my kids. You see, my kids love to "help" clean which generally means cleaning takes much longer because I have to help them help me clean. So, when I'm in a rush and I want them to feel like they are helping out, I give them the squeegee and let them clean windows. It keeps them busy, and I get the rest of the house clean.
Loukia Zigoumis - Shop Mummy
Put things away right away! Here's a helpful tip: leave a basket at the bottom of the stairs for items that need to go upstairs, then bring the empty basket back down again. De-clutter as soon as you can and teach your children to hang up their own jackets and put away their shoes as they come inside!
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